In Brief
TUBERCULOSIS SCARE
Authorities asked to take measures after 13 students test positive The Health Ministry asked authorities in Piraeus yesterday to take precautionary measures after 13 students at a multicultural junior high school in Hellenikon tested positive for tuberculosis. A total of 33 students were tested. The children who tested positive were taken to an Athens children’s hospital and doctors there asked that the remaining students and staff be tested for the potentially fatal disease as well. LAWYER SUSPENDED Advocate representing Pakistanis rapped for inviting ridicule on TV The Athens Bar Association (ABA) suspended lawyer Frangiskos Ragousis for two months yesterday after deciding that he had let himself be ridiculed on national television during an argument with journalist Nikos Kakaounakis. Ragousis is acting on behalf of the 28 Pakistani migrants who claim to have been abducted and questioned by secret agents. The ABA has yet to decide the fate of lawyers Alexis Kouyias and Giorgos Alfantakis, who it has accused «dragging the legal profession through the mire» by engaging in frequent arguments on television and radio programs. EARTHQUAKE AID Kythera homeowners get cash boost Homeowners on the island of Kythera whose houses suffered damage from Sunday’s powerful earthquake can start to collect 586 euros in financial aid as of tomorrow from regional authorities. The earthquake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, seriously damaged 34 homes on the island, while another 52 are considered to be temporarily unlivable. Kerameikos parking An underground car park with space for 285 vehicles is to be built near the ancient site of Kerameikos in central Athens, Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias said yesterday. The project will cost 8.3 million euros and is to be completed in 2008, the minister added. There had been plans to build a metro station at Kerameikos, near Gazi, but these were abandoned in favor of building a station in Votanikos, some 300 meters further south. Souflias said that engineers will use some of the work already done at Kerameikos to build the five-level structure. Consumer warning The Development Ministry said yesterday it has started distributing pamphlets containing information useful to consumers for purchasing products such as shoes and clothing. The pamphlets – being distributed at citizen’s information and services centers (KEP) – list the compulsory safety markings that goods must include and the rights of consumers. Spikey find Police in Thessaloniki said yesterday that they arrested a 40-year-old man after finding 700 grams of hashish and five stalactites at his house. Officers said the man refused to tell them where he obtained the stalactites, which are to be examined by archaeologists. The unnamed man was charged with possession of drugs. Naval conviction A naval court yesterday passed down a seven-month jail sentence which is suspended for three years on a deputy commander of the coast guard after finding him guilty of coercing two subordinate officers into making false statements. Dimitris Moschos is alleged to have exerted pressure upon the two officers to falsely assert that they conducted a preliminary investigation and had taken statements from colleagues in the summer of 2004. The court ruled that the statements – relating to a legal suit brought by a citizen against a port guard – had been taken by Moschos himself. Suburban railway Tickets for the suburban railway can be purchased from today at booths at 6 Sina Street and 1 Karoloou Street in central Athens, in addition to the stations on the route. Palestinian post Greece’s new Palestinian Ambassador Samir Abou Ghazaleh yesterday presented Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis with his credentials. Ghazaleh replaces Marwan Abdelhamid. Embassy closed The American Embassy in Athens and all other US state offices operating in Greece will be closed on Monday due to the Martin Luther King national holiday, embassy officials said yesterday.
